Improved roll for splitting railroad-rails



NiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM A. SVEET, OF SYBAOUSE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVED ROLL FOR SPLITTING RAILROAD-RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 95,284, dated September28, 1869.

To @ZZ whom it may concerm Be it known that l, WILLIAM A. SWEET, of thecity of Syracuse, county of Onondaga, and State of New York, haveinvented a new and Improved Form of Bolls for Splitting Bailroad-Bails;and I do hereby declare the following to be a sufficiently clear andexact description of my invention, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings and letters thereon, that any one skilled in suchmatters may make and use the same.

Figure l represents a side elevation of m invention. Fig. 2 is asectional view of one of the stands, showing the journals of the rollsin elevation.

Like letters refer to like parts in both views.

The chief object of this invention is to prepare the scrap ofrailroad-rails and beams, where flanges are projected from a web, forconversion into other useful products or artcles of manufacture; and itconsists in so constructing a pair of rolls as that the webs or flangesof rails or beams may by one operation be severed or split apart fromtheir corresponding members, and at once, if desired, passed through theother operations to convert the several parts into useful products,without the necessity of reheating them.

Manufacturers have heretofore considered all the portions of rails andbeams that accumulate inthe rolling-mill by whatever causesuch as theingots being either too small or too large to produce the exact lengthof rail or beam-as simply so much scrap, not capable of being eitherrolled or hammered into any useful form on account of the flanges beingso wide and thin that seams or cold sheets77 are always formed duringthe operation; bu-t I have learned from a great number of experimentsthat by a cheap process of splitting or severing these several partsasthe base, web, and head of a rail-the head may be profitably convertedkinto crowbars, wheel-tires, sleigh-soles, 85e., and the other portions'(if the rail is of steel) may be easily converted into stock forseat-springs and similar articles, completely avoiding the necessity ofrepiling, fagoting, or rerolling in order to make it suitable forconversion into new and useful articles of manufacture. It may seem atfirst sight, at least to any one not skilled in such operations, thatlittle, if any, difficulty need arise in making a pair of rolls performthe operation of splitting such material but experiment has proven thatthe cutting-edges of the rolls must be held very closely and firmlytogether-so closely, in fact, that if permitted to run empty the edgeswould soon be destroyed 5 but this difficulty I have completely overcomeby mounting the rolls in stands so constructed that the moment thebinding-screws are relieved the bottom roll drops from contact with theupper one, and by forming the rolls so that guards to the cutting-edgesshall always protect them from any injurious contact.

A A are the stands or frame for supporting the rolls B and B. Thesestands are of any suitable material-such as cast-iron-and are securelymounted upon a base, A', by bolts extending down through timbers andmasonry of sufficient solidity to furnish a firm though slightly elasticfoundation. rIhe rolls B and B may be formed of the same materials asthose used for rolling iron, and the edges or critters for splitting, asshown at i in Fig. 1,

are made of as great a diameter as any other portion of the rolls; butat m and n guards to the cutting-edges are provided by leaving aconsiderable surface of metal, of equal rdiameter to the cutting-edges,and said guards receive the pressure of the binding-screws, and serve asa gage to the operators for applying pressure upon the rolls. The inneredges or corners of these guards also serve as guides to the material tobe split, and between these and the cutting-edges are the groovesthrough which the rails or beams are to pass, as at l, 2, and 3, thebase of a rail passing through at l, the web at 2, and the head at 3;or, if a beam, the grooves and cutting-edges are made to correspond withits dimensions, but in a` similar manner. The bottom roll is supportedin working position upon the movable boxes or brasses e e, which areraised or lowered by the set-screws o o, said set-screws being geared towork together by the spurwheels C C, which are operated 4by a pinionupon the hand-wheel shaft D. rlhe upper roll is supported in bearings inthe stands, as shown at A, Fig. 2, so that how far soever the lower rollmay be dropped or lowered the upper one will not be affected thereby inany manner. Its brasses tt are forced down upon it by suitablebinding-screws, as in the ordinary style of rolling-mills, but when onceproperly set is left to Work in that position, as all adjustment betweenthe two rolls is effeeted by operating the lower screws, as :Llreadydescribed.

strueted and arranged as described, brasses e e, set-serews o o,spur-Wheels G C, pinion, and hand-Wheel D, substantially as described,and for the purposes set forth.

Having thus briey described my invention, XVM. A. SWEET. what I claim,and desire to secure by Letters Vitnesses: Patent, is- Gno. W. Hlimvoon,

The combination of the rolls B and B', con- ITJEUBEN MURRAY.

